Rolling mill

ABSTRACT

A rolling mill having thrust keeper plates for preventing axial movement of the rolls, said thrust keeper plates being shiftable in the direction perpendicular to the roll axis and said thrust keeper plate being mounted on a roll housing by means of a wedge mechanism whereby the plates can be remotely actuated.

U United States Patent [151 3,678,722 Taniguchi et al. 45 J l 25, 1972 541 ROLLING MILL [56] References Cited UNITED STATE PATENTS 72] Inventors: Tetsuji Taniguchi; Kakichi Fukui; Shiro s lmai; Masahiro Hayashi; Koichi Seki, all 1,924,333 8/1933 Talbot ..72/247 f H h Japan 1,971,982 8/1934 Holeton 2,042,871 6/1936 Talbot ..72/238 [73] Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan Primary Examiner-Charles W. Lanham [22] Filed: Nov. 12, 1969 Assistant Examiner-Michael J. Keenan Attorney-Craig, Antonelli, Stewart & Hill {21] Appl. No.: 875,635 I [57] ABSTRACT A rolling mill having thrust keeper plates for preventing axial I Foreign Appncmon Priority Data movement of the rolls, said thrust keeper plates being shiftable Nov. 13, 1968 Japan ..43/82538 in the direction perpendicular to the roll axis and said thrust keeper plate being mounted on a roll housing by means of a [52] U.S. Cl ..72/238 wedge mechanism whereby the plates can be remotely actu- [51] Int. Cl ..B21b 31/08 med. [58] Field of Search ..72/237, 238, 241, 245, 247,

2/2 5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures Patented July 25, 1972 3,678,722

3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR TETSuTI TANIGMQHI, KAKICHI FLUYMI SHIfio IMAI, MAsAHIRo HAYASHI d KOICLHI SEKI Q M M/ 4 ATTORNEYS Patented July 25, 1972 INVENTORS KA KIC H1 FL. A MI TETSMTI TANIGMCHI,

SHI'RO JYMAI, MASAHIRO HAY/ISHZ and ATTORNEYS Patented July 25, 1972 3,678,722

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS TETSHTI T'A NIGI/(CHI' KAKICHI Fax SHIRO IMAI, MASAHIRO HA and ATTOR N F Y) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a rolling mill, and more particularly to an improvement of the means for preventing axial movement of rolls in a rolling mill.

Generally, a rolling mill is provided with thrust keeper plates for bearing thrust forces acting axially on the rolls of the rolling mill. The thrust keeper plates are secured to the front face of a roll housing and adapted to support said thrust by engaging with the front faces of roll chocks or grooves formed in the chocks.

However, in a conventional apparatus of this type, since the thrust keeper plates are directly secured to the roll housing by means of screw bolts it is necessary to remove and replace a large number of such screw bolts of large size during, for example a roll changing operation, and thus a lot of time and labor is consumed. Particularly, since the thrust keeper plates for top roll are mounted at a high position, their handling is often troublesome.

Recently, in order to eliminate the aforementioned disadvantages, there has been proposed to provide a structure in which the thrust keeper plates can be slidably moved by cylinder means in the direction perpendicular to the roll axis. This structure can eliminate the necessity of loosening and tightening the thrust keeper plates. However, in this structure, the thrust keeper plates are not securely fixed in the direction of the roll axis in order to allow for such sliding movement thereof, so that an excessive gap is left between the thrust surfaces (said front face or groove) of the roll chocks and the thrust keeper plates. Thus, a relative displacement often occurs between the top and bottom rolls and it is not possible to perform an adjustment of the thrust keeper plates in the direction of the roll axis, even when the thrust surfaces of the roll chocks are worn. For a rolling mill, and more particularly, for a slabbing and blooming mill which utilizes grooved rolls and in which a large thrust force is created, a rigid structure which is easy to adjust and handle is highly desired. However, none of the conventional structures have proved very satisfactory.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary object of the present invention is to provide a rolling mill which can be easily and efficiently handled and in which axial movement of rolls can be positively prevented and the thrust keeper plates can be positively and remotely actuated.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a rolling mill in which the thrust keeper plates can be mounted on the roll housing by means of a relatively simple and rigid structure.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a rolling mill in which the positions of the thrust keeper plates can be exactly and easily adjusted in the direction of the roll axis.

According to the present invention, there is provided a rolling mill comprising a housing for receiving rolls and roll chocks, thrust keeper plates carried by said housing for securely holding said roll chocks, a plurality of fixed screw bolts for securing the thrust keeper plates to the housing, wedge means for slidably engaging with the slanted surfaces provided at the inner sides of said thrust keeper plates, cylinder means mounted on the housing for actuating said wedge means, and secured cylinder means operatively connected with said housing and said thrust keeper plates for shifting said thrust keeper plates in the direction perpendicular to the roll axis, said thrust keeper plates being remotely actuatable by operating said two cylinder means.

The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the description proceeds with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a fragmentary front view of a rolling mill embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view looking in the direction of arrow P in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along; the line V V of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are sectional views of portions shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 respectively, but showing the parts in their operative positions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT One embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although FIG. 1 shows only the left-hand portion of a rolling mill, it will be understood that the right-hand portion is identical to the left-hand portion and therefore will not be described in detail. numeral In the drawings, the reference numeral 1 shows one of the thrust keeper plates which is adapted to engage with one of the roll chocks for preventing axial movement of a roll. Each of the thrust plates has a channel shaped cross-section and is supported by a bracket 29 which is in turn secured to a housing 24. The numeral 2 shows a wedge which is connected by means of a pin 9 to a cylinder 8 mounted on the housing 24. The wedge 2 is formed with a plurality of axially spaced wedge surfaces 2' of a substantially similar shape. The wedge 2 is so arranged that it engages with liners 15 which are secured to the end 37 of one wall of the thrust keeper plate 1. The reference numeral 3 shows concave guide plates provided one for each wedge surface 2' and secured to the housing 24 for guiding the wedge 2. The reference numeral 4 shows washers each of which is disposed above a slot 1.6 in the thrust keeper plate I and formed with a curved surface at the side facing to the periphery of said slot 16, and 6 shows fixed screw bolts each of which is inserted into each slot 16 and engaged by a pair of nuts 5 and 7 at the opposite ends thereof. The fixed screw bolts 6 serve, together with the nuts 5 and 7, to secure the thrust keeper plate I to the housing 24 through the washers 4 at a plurality of spaced apart positions. The reference numeral 10 shows screw adjustment bolts for adjusting the position of the thrust keeper plate I in the direction of the roll axis. The screw adjustment bolts 10 are disposed at one side of the thrust keeper plate I opposite to said wedge 2 and offset from said fixed screw bolts 6 by a distance L Each of the screw adjustment bolts 10 engages at its lower end with a guide plate 22 secured to the housing 24 for holding the thrust keeper plate 1 and the housing 24 spaced apart by a distance L in operation. The reference: numeral 14 shows a tension spring disposed between each of said fixed screw bolts 6 and the adjacent wedge 2 and pivotally connected at the opposite ends to the thrust keeper plate 1 and the housing 24 respectively, and II, 12 and 13 show a screw bolt, a nut and a lock ring respectively for connecting said tension spring 14 to the thrust keeper plate I and the housing 24. The reference numeral I7 shows a cylinder which is connected at one end with a bracket 18 by means of a pin 20 and at the other end with the thrust keeper plate 1 by. means of a pin 19. The bracket 18 is secured to the housing 24 by screw bolts 21, so that the thrust keeper plate 1 can be displaced by the cylinder 17 in the direction perpendicular to the roll axis. The reference numeral 23 shows a chock for the top roll, 25 a pro jection provided on the chock 23, 26 thrust liners provided at the upper and lower sides of the projection 25, 27 a chock liner attached to the chock 23, and 28 a housing liner attached to the housing. The reference numeral 30 shows a top roll, 31

a bottom roll, 32 a screwing down mechanism for lowering the roll, 33 a support for the top roll chock, 34 a thrust keeper plate for preventing the axial movement of the bottom roll 31, 35 screw bolts for securing the thrust keeper plate 34 against movement in the direction of the roll axis, and 36 a cylinder for moving the thrust keeper plate 34 in the direction perpendicular to the roll axis.

The embodiment of the present invention constructed as described above operates as follows.

When the wedge 2 is vertically moved by the cylinder 8, the thrust keeper plate 1 is swung about an axis passing through the points of contact between the thrust keeper plate 1 and the washers 4. Therefore, if the adjust screw bolt 10 is so adjusted that the gap L is maintained between the thrust keeper plate 1 and the housing 24, the gap L is always maintained constant by the wedge 2. Thus, the thrust force acting on the top roll 30 is transmitted through the chock 23, the projection 25 and the thrust liner 26 to the thrust keeper plate 1. The thrust keeper plate 1 is supported on the housing 24 against the thrust force on one hand by the screw bolts 6 through the washers 4 and the nuts and 7, and on the other hand by the wedge 2 through the liner 15. In this instance, the wedge 2 is held by the cylinder 8 against movement under the cam effect of the slanting surface of the liner 15.

When it is desired to perform roll changing, or to take the top roll chock 23 out of the housing 24, the wedge 2 is drawn upwardly by the cylinder 8 whereby the thrust keeper plate 1 is caused to swing under the tension of the spring 14 about the axis passing through the points of contact between the thrust keeper plate 1 and the washers 4, so that the gap L between the housing 24 and the thrust keeper plate 1 is increased. Then, the thrust keeper plate 1 is shifted perpendicularly to the roll axis by the cylinder 17, whereupon the parts are moved from the positions shown in FIGS. 3 through 5 to those shown in FIGS. 6 through 8. Thus, the chock 23 can be .removed from the housing 24 in the direction shown by the arrow R in H6. 6.

- When it is desired to fix a newly installed roll in the housing 24, the chock 23 is inserted into the housing 24, then the cylinder 17 is operated to shift the thrust keeper plate 1, and thereafter the cylinder 8 is operated to move the wedge 2 downwardly. Then, the thrust keeper plate 1 is caused to swing about an axis which passes through the points of contact between the thrust keeper plate 1 and the washers 4 until the tip ends of the screw adjusting bolts 10 engage with the guide plate 22. Thus, the thrust keeper plate 1 is secured at the point of contact between each screw adjusting bolt 10 and the guide plate 22, the point of contact between each washers 4 and the thrust keeper plate 1 and the point of contact between the wedge 2 and each liner 15. In this manner, the gap L, is again retained without any specific operation, such as loosening the nut 5.

When the thrust liner 26 attached to the chock 23 is worn and it is desired to readjust the gap L, between the thrust keeper plate 1 and the housing 24, the screw adjusting bolts 10 and the nuts 5 are turned to displace the thrust keeper plate I by a desired distance.

The present invention has thus been described with reference to one embodiment thereof, however, it should be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the objects and the spirit of the present invention. For example although the present invention has been described with reference to an improvement relating to a thrust keeper plate for a top roll, it is in no way limited to such an application and can be similarly applied to a thrust keeper plate for a bottom roll.

We claim:

I. A rolling mill comprising a housing for receiving rolls and roll chocks, thrust keeper plates carried by said housing for securely holding said roll chocks and having inner slanted surfaces, a plurality of fixed screw bolts for securing said thrust keeper plates to said housing, wedge means for slidably engagin said inner slanted surfaces of said thrust keeper plates, first cylnder means mounted on said housing for actuating said wedge means, and second cylinder means operatively connected with said housing and said thrust keeper plates for shifting said thrust keeper plates in a direction perpendicular to the axes of said rolls, said thrust keeper plates being remotely actuatable by said first and second cylinder means, whereby said roll chocks are releasably secured to said housmg.

2. A rolling mill in accordance with claim 1 in which each of said thrust keeper plates has a channel shaped cross-section, and said wedge means is disposed on the side of each thrust keeper plate opposite to the corresponding roll chock between said thrust keeper plate and said housing, screw adjusting bolts being provided on each of said thrust keeper plates at the side opposite to said wedge means for adjusting the position of the thrust keeper plate in the direction of the roll axis.

3. A rolling mill in accordance with claim 1, in which said wedge means comprises a plurality of axially spaced substantially similarly shaped wedge surfaces, said thrust keeper plates being provided with a corresponding number of liners for engagement with said wedge surfaces.

4. A rolling mill in accordance with claim 1 in which each of said fixed screw bolts is inserted into a slot provided in each of said thrust keeper plates and combined with a washer which has a curved surface at the side engaging with the periphery of the said slot.

5. A rolling mill in accordance with claim 1 in which a tension spring is pivotally connected between said housing and each of said thrust keeper plates at a location between each of said fixed screw bolts and said wedge means. 

1. A rolling mill comprising a housing for receiving rolls and roll chocks, thrust keeper plates carried by said housing for securely holding said roll chocks and having inner slanted surfaces, a plurality of fixed screw bolts for securing said thrust keeper plates to said housing, wedge means for slidably engaging said inner slanted surfaces of said thrust keeper plates, first cylinder means mounted on said housing for actuating said wedge means, and second cylinder means operatively connected with said housing and said thrust keeper plates for shifting said thrust keeper plates in a direction perpendicular to the axes of said rolls, said thrust keeper plates being remotely actuatable by said first and second cylinder means, whereby said roll chocks are releasably secured to said housing.
 2. A rolling mill in accordance with claim 1 in which each of said thrust keeper plates has a channel shaped cross-section, and said wedge means is disposed on the side of each thrust keeper plate opposite to the corresponding roll chock between said thrust keeper plate and said housing, screw adjusting bolts being provided on each of said thrust keeper plates at the side opposite to said wedge means for adjusting the position of the thrust keeper plate in the direction of the roll axis.
 3. A rolling mill in accordance with claim 1, in which said wedge means comprises a plurality of axially spaced substantially similarly shaped wedge surfaces, said thrust keeper plates being provided with a corresponding number of liners for engagement with said wedge surfaces.
 4. A rolling mill in accordance with claim 1 in which each of said fixed screw bolts is inserted into a slot provided in each of said thrust keeper plates and combined with a washer which has a curved surface at the side engaging with the periphery of the said slot.
 5. A rolling mill in accordance with claim 1 in which a tension spring is pivotally connected between said housing and each of said thrust keeper plates at a location between each of said fixed screw bolts and said wedge means. 